Container handle structure



W. B. MOORE ETAL,

CONTAINER HANDLE STRUCTURE Filed June 17, 1938 Feb, u, 223mm A TTU/eN ys Patented Feb. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER HANDLE STRUCTURE corporation 0f Ohio Application June 17, 1938, Serial No. 214,375

4 Claims.

Our invention relates to container handle structure. It has to do, more particularly, with a handle structure embodying a bail and a hand grip mounted thereon to protect the hand of a person carrying the container. It is applicable to pals and to various other receptacles.

In the prior art, the type of hand grip most commonly used has been a substantially cylindrical piece of wood provided with a longitudinal bore through which the bail is passed before the ends thereof are crimped or bent so that they may be applied to the container. When they have been once applied, they are not readily removable and therefore cannot readily be cleaned. Because of this, they tend to become unsanitary. For this reason, there is a need for a detachable hand grip which will eiectively serve its purpose when in use and which will be readily detachable and replaceable and will be of a structure that may be easily and effectively cleaned.

Various detachable hand grips have been provided for the bails of buckets and other containers. However, most of these hand grips have been unduly complicated in that they have been formed of a plurality of parts which must be assembled during application to the bail and disassembled for removal. Becausethey are formed of a plurality of parts, they are unduly costly in manufacture and require an undue amount of ltime for application or removal. When in position on the bail, there is a danger of slippage of the parts with relation to each other and they are not as sturdy as they should be. Likewise, they are not ordinarily of a structure that may be readily cleaned.

Some attempts have been made to provide handgrips of a resilient nature by forming than of resilient material curled or bent to provide a groove for the reception of the bail. Being of metal, hand grips of this type are undesirable because they tend to become unduly hot where the container has been subjected to heat. Likewise, they are usually held in place by friction between the bail and the hand grip and, since both parts are of metal, there is undesirable danger of slippage of one upon the other.

One of .the objects of this invention is to provide a hand grip for container hails which will be non-conductive and which, therefore, will adequately protect the hand of a person lifting or carrying the container from heat as well as from undesirable pressure from the bail.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hand grip for the bail of a container which will be readily detachable and replaceable so that it may be removed and cleaned and then replaced with a minimum of difliculty.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a detachable hand grip which will be of a simple construction with all of the surfaces thereof readily accessible for cleaning and which will at the same time avoid the above enumerated drawbacks of the prior art.

Further objects of our invention Will be ap-v parent as the following description of our in- 7 vention progresses.

The preferred embodiment of our invention is shown in the accompanying drawing wherein similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts and wherein:

Figure 1 is a 'perspective view of a bail with our preferred form of handle structure shown thereon. f

' Figure 2 is a side elevation of a portion of the bail with the hand grip shown in longitudinal section and shown before assembly with the bail.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same portion of the bail with the hand grip shown in longitudinal `section but shown assembled with the bail.

Referring more specically to the drawing it will be seen that the bail I is provided intermediate its ends with spaced upstanding loops which are generally in the form of inverted U- shaped members. 'Ihe outer legs 2 and 3 of these upstanding loops are inclined upwardly towards each other to a slight degree. The inner legs 4 and 5 of these upstanding loops are inclined upwardly towards each other to a relatively marked degree. The result is that the upstanding loops are wider at the top than at the bottom thereof, though the legs of the respective loops are spaced from each other throughout their lengths. w

The hand grip Which is shown generally at 6 is formed preferably of wood, plastic or some other comparatively non-conductive material, though it may be formed of many different types of material. It is generally of arcuate form so as to correspond with the arc of the bail to which it is to be applied. At its ends, it is provided with sockets l and 8 which are joined at their lower end by a groove 9 which extends along the bottom of the hand grip and which is of a depth substantially corresponding to the diameter of the bail.

'I'he sockets 1 and 8 have their walls l0 and Il angularly disposed so that they converge in an upward direction substantially corresponding to the angle of convergence of the inner legs 4 and 5 of the upstanding loops on the bail. These walls I0 and II are joined to the base of the groove 9 by means of rounded corners I2 and I3 whose outermost points are spaced slightly further apart than the inner upper corners of the upstandng loops of the bail when in normal position, as illustrated by the dotted lines in Figure 2.

It will be understood that, owing to the comparatively resilient nature of the bail, it can be slightly exed and this can be effected by inserting the upstanding loops partially into .the sock- Y ets I and 8 and forcing the rounded corners I2 and I3 of the member 6 between the said upstanding loops. When the upper inner corners of the upstanding loops have passed the rounded corners I2 and I3 they will more readily slide into the position shown in Figure 3 wherein the converging legs 4l and 5 of the upstanding loops nt snugly against the base walls I0 and I I of the sockets I and 8. After the inner upper corners of the upstanding loops have passed the corners I2 and I3 and moved into seating position in the sockets I and 8, these upstanding loops and the bail will have returned to their normal positions and will resliently and frictionally resist withdrawal of the loops from the hand grip. When so seated, the bail will substantially fill the groove 9 which is of a cross section substantially corresponding thereto.

It will be seen from the above that we have provided a novel type of bail and hand grip which may be utilized upon various types of receptacles and which are of extremely simple structure that can be manufactured at relatively low cost. The bail is formed in one piece and the hand grip is formed in one piece. All parts of the bail and all parts of .the hand grip are readily accessible for cleaning. Furthermore, the hand grip may be applied to the bail merely by positioning the hand grip in initial position upon the bail and squeezing them together so that the corners I2 and I3 of the hand grip 6 will be forced in between the inner uppe-r corners of the upstanding portion of the bail I.

When in position, the hand grip will be rmly, though resiliently and frictionally, held in position upon the bail. In our device, the hand of the person carrying a container will be amply protected by the hand grip but will also enclose the hand grip and bail so that there is no danger of accidental detachment of the hand grip from the bail.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim is:

1. A container handle comprising a bail having upstanding members of inverted U-shape with their inner legs inwardly and upwardly converging and a hand grip having sockets in its ends whose bases are inwardly and upwardly converging for the reception of said upstanding members.

2. A container handle comprising a bail having upstanding members of inverted U-shape with their inner legs inwardly and upwardly converging, said inner legs being connected together by a cross piece and a hand grip having sockets in'its ends whose 'bases are inwardly and upwardly converging for the reception of said upstanding members and which is provided with a groove for the reception of the said cross piece.

3. A container handle structure comprising a bail having upstanding members of inverted U-shape, the inner legs of said members being inwardly and upwardly converging and connected together at their lower ends by a cross piece and a hand grip having sockets in its ends whose bas-es are inwardly and upwardly converging and which are designed to receive said upstanding members, said hand grip having a groove extending along its under surface for the reception of the said cross piece.

4. A container handle structure comprising a Wire bail of arcuate form, said bail having a pair of upstanding members of inverted U-shape formed thereon, the inner legs of said members being inwardly and upwardly converging and being spaced from each other so that they are adapted to receive a hand grip therebetween, the lower ends of said inner legs being connected together by an arcuate portion of the bail which has the same arc of curvature as the main part of the bail and is in alignment therewith, a hand grip of arcuate form having a groove in its lower edge for receiving the arcuate portions of the bail when it is positioned between said inner legs, said hand grip also havingv sockets formed in its ends for receiving said leg portions which have bases that converge towards each other in a manner similar to the leg portions so that the hand grip may be slipped between said leg portions and will be held in position by frictional contact of the leg portions and the bases of said sockets.

WALTER B. MOORE. R. S. COBBI. 

